1957 After Salvador Dali "The Atavism of the Angelus of Millet" First Edition Period Photogravure

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An excellent vintage First Edition period photogravure, full-color print of Surrealist painting 'Les Atavismes De "l'Angelus" De Millet' (The Atavisms … Read more An excellent vintage First Edition period photogravure, full-color print of Surrealist painting 'Les Atavismes De "l'Angelus" De Millet' (The Atavisms Of The Angelus Of Millet, 1934-1935) by Salvador Dalí from a First limited edition of XVI pieces of Dali's portfolio. Published by by Les Editions Du Chene in Paris, France in 1957. Printed on one side. Hand tipped-in on a board of heavy paper. Numbered on the board. Copy on the back of the board is related to another piece in the folio. Excellent condition - minor edge wear on the board, never framed.

Overall 10.75"W x 14.5"H
Image 8.60"W x 6.80"H

The artist visualized the Angelus couple from the painting by Jean-François Millet. As a result of his memories, Dalí paints the figures as ancient towers on the moonlit Ampurdan plain, an atmosphere charged with an eerie, prehistoric quality. In his essay on Millet’s work, Dalí uses a postcard to illustrate how the bowing figures reminded him of the monoliths (menhirs) he saw in parts of Catalonia.

Dalí paints the female slightly taller than the male, with her features resembling a praying mantis. In his analysis of the painting’s latent meaning, Dalí felt that the female was not only the dominant partner, but also posed a sexual threat to the male, associating her with a female praying mantis. This alludes to Dalí’s assertion that Millet’s painting represents sexual repression, male fear and impotence, and in his work Dalí has updated the popular 19th century Symbolist tradition of the femme fatale into a Surrealist context, extending the message of the implicit dangers of female sensuality.

On the subject of the editor: Editions du Chêne, Paris 1941, it is an occupied Paris which witnesses the emergence, 16, place Vendôme, of the Editions du Chêne. A risky bet given that its 21-year old founder was called Maurice Kahane, an atheist Jewish man who would then adopt the name of his mother, Girodias. The Chêne specialised itself by the edition of art books and literature. The Editions du Chêne would become a branch of the Hachette group in 1951. The edition of art books would then adopt pride of place. George Herscher takes over the Hachette house with enthusiasm in 1971. See less